


Nine Times Nine Makes Eighty-One

by Purpleplums



Category: Xi You Ji | Journey to the West - Wu Cheng'en
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, And there's reincarnation, Angst, Bailong is an OC at this point, Basically everything goes to shit soon after they retrieve the scrolls, Character Death, Character Development, Character Study, Modern Era, More relationship/character tag will be added as we go, Multi, Not Really Character Death, Reincarnation, Sequel, Slightly darker and modern take on original story, but it's in the past
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:53:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28932831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purpleplums/pseuds/Purpleplums
Summary: They say that the pilgrims reach the Western Heavens after overcoming a total of eighty-one trials, achieving enlightenment for themselves and a way to enlightenment for the mortals through the sacred sutras. But they do not speak of the death of the Buddha of Sandalwood Merit, they do not speak of how the Victorious Fighting Buddha rent the heavens asunder once again, they do not speak of the harrowing punishments which awaited the four pilgrims left. Now, in a time where faith wavers like a candle in the wind, what new pilgrimage awaits them? Will they be able to reach their destination once again? Or has a thousand years of punishment changed them beyond recognition?
Relationships: Everyone & Everyone, Sūn Wùkōng | Monkey King & Táng Sānzàng | Tripitaka, Zhu Bajie/Sha Wujing
Comments: 31
Kudos: 27





	1. The End of A Millennium

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a twice edited version of the first chapter, but nothing major has changed, just some grammatical mistakes fixed and a sentence added/deleted here and there. Am still looking for a beta-reader so if anyone os interested please leave a comment!

The Heavenly Prison is  _ not _ the place to be, thought Ao Lie as he suppressed yet another yawn in the starkly lit reception area which only served to accentuate the shadowed corners. Few minor deities milled about, some of them guards, others, clerks and administrative staff working around the clock to keep the number of prisoners consistent. Everyone knew there’d be hell to pay if even one of these guys breaks out. 

Another glance at the clock behind the receptionist desk tells Ao Lie that he’s already been here for an hour or so and still no sign of… oh wait, there he is. 

He stood up suddenly, paused, then slowly started making his way to the new figure dragged in by the guards on a leashed muzzle. Everything seemed so surreal at this moment, that dull ache that Ao Lie thought had gone away a long time ago started coursing in his veins again, pushed further into every nook and cranny with each unbearably strong beat of his heart. 

He opened his mouth, but his dry and constricted throat couldn’t make a single sound. He could only stare in silence with his mouth gaping slightly like an idiot as the guards worked. Silently, they replaced the muzzle, collar and cuffs with six golden rings, four on the limbs, one around the neck and the final one on the head. 

Ao Lie passed the papers to one of them after everything was done, the guard checked it over and together with his group, made a hand holding fist gesture before leaving as silently as they came. 

Now, it was time to brave the storm. 

“Big Br-, Sun Wukong.” Ao Lie paused again as Wukong finally lifted his glowing eyes to glare at him, he gulped. “Th-the Jade Emper- I-

“What, has being a horse made you mute? Speak properly Bailong.” A hoarse rasp slipped from the monkey’s pale dry lips. Ao Lie swears he could see dust particles slip out with each gruff whisper. 

“I-I am here on heavenly edict!” Ao Lie looked around sheepishly after raising his voice unexpectedly, but no one seemed to notice. “Your thousand years of imprisonment has come to term-

“And they’re going to let me back to Flower Fruit Mountain.  _ Right _ ?” 

The dragon gulped again as the monkey almost snarled out the last word, he could feel cold sweat gathering along his spine, even after a thousand years he could still remember the tell-tale signs that Wukong was about to go ballistic. His bared teeth were definitely one of them. 

“Big brother, I think you know as well as I do that… that’s not what’ll happen. Look at the rings on you…” Ao Lie’s throat closed up again, but this time it was to hold back a dry sob. He had a nasty habit of choking up when he got emotional. 

Wukong looked long and hard at the young dragon and sighed quietly. Slowly, he placed a furry hand on his head before looking away. “Just tell me what those bastards want this time.” 

Ao Lie just managed to hold the waterworks before speaking again. “They need us to track the prophetic scrolls down. The Heavens have lost their place in people’s hearts and only the scrolls can reverse the centuries of lost faith. I’m sure you’ve noticed something as well, elder brother, we’re...fading away.” 

Wukong didn’t speak for some time before he started to walk out the front doors and down the stairs. Ao Lie followed before stopping midway down the stairs, “wait, what about your things before you came in, your As-You-Would Golden Staff?” 

The monkey stopped before snickering, “I doubt I’ll ever see it again.” He turned his head around, “Even if I do, I won’t be able to lift it.” 

Ao Lie doubts that he’ll ever forget the scene before him. His eldest brother’s thin and slouching silhouette against the rich and brilliant sunset of the heavens, his tired, crooked grin, and the rings that denounced his personhood… how did it all come to this?

_ Pitter...pitter patter _

Wukong turned around properly this time to see pearls dropping out of the dragon’s eyes and scattering down the stairs. He bounded up the stairs and tipped Ao Lie’s head backwards before hissing, “I just came out, don’t wanna go in again to fetch you. You realize how many Jiaoren have been locked up for their tears?” 

“My mother was a Jiaoren.” Ao Lie sniffled, blinking rapidly. “Father doted on her tears, but somewhere down the line I think he forgot that we were more than our tears.” A pause. “Big brother, I can’t believe it, it really has been a thousand years…

They started making their way down the stairs again, a quiet tension permeating between the two. Wukong cut through the silence. 

“How are your other two brothers?” He wasn’t looking at Ao Lie again, instead keeping his gaze fixed on the far away cloud clusters. 

After sometime only a small “I don’t know” came from Ao Lie. At this time they’ve crossed the threshold of the prison grounds and the endless field of clouds presented itself. A gentle, tired breeze swept past them as some of the smaller cloud clusters began to rearrange themselves, making up for most of the change and movement in this unchanging environment. 

Ao Lie closed his eyes as he began to transform, his body, mane and snout elongating as his clothes disappeared. He popped his eyes back open once he was done and curled up so that his now cauldron sized eyes lined up with Wukong’s figure. 

The monkey gave an appreciative whistle before chuckling, “Look at you, Xiao Bai Long, all grown up now huh?” 

The white dragon blushed a little before growling, “Big brother, stop teasing me. Climb on my back so I can take you to the Western Sea.” 

The monkey complied and soon they were weaving in and out of the orange-pink clouds towards the sinking sun, a familiar direction for the both of them. Even though it was Wukong who was set free from his millennium of imprisonment, somehow, the dragon felt that he could breathe a little easier as well. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Jiaoren (鲛人) - simply put, Chinese merfolk, but if I remember correctly Jiaoren can actually walk on land but their tears are pearls and they weave something really really well. I think they're based on a minorty tribe which lives near the southern coasts and so are often refered as the the Southern Sea Jiaoren. 
> 
> *Ao Lie, Bai Long, Xiao Bai Long - so the first one is the dragon prince's actual name. The second and third are both titles respectively meaning "White dragon" and "Little white dragon". Depending one who's saying it the third title could be endearing or belittling. Obviously, Wukong uses it in an endearing manner. P.S. Anything besides what's canon in JJTW is my BS about Ao Lie because it do be like that
> 
> Please leave a comment about anything else that's confusing/needs clarification! Feel free to ask me other Chinese mythology/culture questions as well, I'd be happy to help out.


	2. A Visit to the Western Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ao Lie and Sun Wukong visit the Western Sea to determine their next steps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably won't be able to update this often but I'm currently on a roll so here's chapter 2! A little more background and such on what exactly went down. Also, I'm pretty desperate for a beta-reader right now since I can not edit and impulsiveTM so I will just write what comes to mind and regret it greatly later. So if anyone's interested please leave a comment and we can totally talk it over!

As they approached the stairs which led up to the palace gates Ao Lie stopped to let Wukong climb off before reverting to his humanoid form. They could see an ancient turtle dressed richly in mandarin robes working his way slowly down the stairs, stopping every few steps to stoop and pant. 

Wukong glanced skeptically at the various shrimps and crabs dressed in guard uniforms who lined the stairs and stood guard at the gates. You would think the Dragon Kings would amp up security after he and that sassy twelve year old* absolutely demolished the Eastern Sea Palace on numerous occasions. 

Wukong turned to Ao Lie to comment but stopped at the look on the young dragon’s face. His lips were pulled up into a faint smile and his eyes were sparkling alittle. He must’ve not been home for a while.

“Your highness! Your highness!” It seems that the turtle finally made his grueling way down the stairs and was now hobbling towards the prince as quickly as his short legs allowed. When he proceeded to throw himself in front of the young royal to kowtow, Wukong almost thought he had just tripped and fallen down. 

The prince let out a startled gasp before quickly pulling the aged turtle to his feet. “Prime minister Gui! Please, I cannot possibly accept such weighty formalities from you!” 

The turtle wobbled up, took one look at the Prince and started howling, tears rolling out freely from his beady eyes. “Young lord, I hadn’t thought I’d ever be able to se-see you…” Prime Minister Gui choked up and started bawling again, too besides himself to finish the statement. 

The dragon sunk to his knees and held onto the hunched over turtle with tears in his eyes, “Prime Minister, please don’t say such things! you’ve already served my family for three generations and we’ll continue to look to your wisdom for many more!” 

After some time, Ao Lie wiped away his tears and snot with a generous wipe of his cotton sleeve before standing up and bowing slightly to the Prime Minister, “Would you please take us to see father? We need to speak with him.” 

The old courtier agreed eagerly and began leading them up the white marble stairs. But even with the help of a staff, he seemed to be on the verge of collapsing every few steps up. Wukong was starting to get impatient from following a turtle that’s probably as old as the Western Sea itself. But Ao Lie only seemed to grow more concerned with every step before he finally stopped, “Prime Minister, please feel free to swim up, the Great Sage and I can catch up.” 

The turtle wanted to refuse even in his sorry state but an irritated glare from Wukong prompted him to thank the prince and begin paddling up to the front gates. 

After they met again at the front gates, they finally entered the outermost courtyard of the vast palace. From then on it was weaving in and out different buildings to reach the main palace. The palace seemed almost infinitely large and convoluted, with courtyards within courtyards and rooms within rooms. 

“Didn’t they reclassify the Western Sea into a salt-water lake?” Wukong mused as he looked around the underwater palace. Though still kept together with integrity, it’s definitely lost some of its glamour and grandeur since the last time he’s visited. 

“Yes, we’re technically under Qing Hai lake* at this moment. But my father couldn’t live it down, so everyone still unofficially refers to it as the Western Sea.” Ao Lie smiled a little, “But if you ask me, it’s just a label, what Xi Hai* was a thousand years ago, it still is today. It’s the people who’ve changed*.” 

Wukong gave him a funny look, “I don’t think there’s a single human person down here, unless you guys retracted your policies on not accepting human sacrifices?” 

Ao Lie rolled his eyes, “Glad to see you still have your wicked sense of humour, big brother.” 

The monkey just snickered in that distinctly simian way before patting Ao Lie on the back a few times, “You dragons really all have a stick up your asses, loosen up a bit will you?” 

Ao Lie sighed and shook his head a little as they crossed the final layer of palace walls to reach the main palace building. The Prime Minister stopped them in front of the stairs leading into the building before going in to report their arrival to the Dragon King. 

A minute or so later, they were led in by the turtle. The king was already up and rushing down the stairs from his throne towards his youngest son. 

“My son! How you’ve grown to be a fine dragon in the last thousand years!” By now, the elder dragon was clutching onto his son’s arms and scanning his face, examining the change a millennium had brought his son. Ao Lie figures that this is the closest thing to a hug that he’ll receive from his king and father. 

“Father, I am unworthy of such praise. I only hope to not have been a cause for concern and worry for the last thousand years.” He turned away slightly to gather a few pearls from his eyes, “I have been most unfilial for returning home empty-handed, please,” he lay the pearls into his father’s wrinkled claws, “do forgive me, father.” 

He can just feel the judgement rolling off the monkey in waves, but really, who does he think he’s doing all this for? Without something to cushion the blow, his father would certainly do his best to passively spite the monkey for the entire duration of their stay. It never hurts to get someone you need a few favours from in a good mood, this he knows from centuries of palace life.

And if Ao Lie was being honest his father had at least two very good reasons to hold a grudge against his elder brother. The first reason would be the whole borrowing- (or stealing, as his father would insist) the-needle-which-kept-the-entire-fucking-Eastern-Sea-stable-as-a-weapon situation. But that was ancient history and their cousins have drunkenly complained about it enough that Ao Lie can give you the sum of the damage control budget to the cent. But the second reason would be more relevant. 

See, the one person which has yet to come up in any of their conversations so far would be Xuanzang. In fact, just thinking about his late master’s name sets him a little on edge as it’s such a big taboo topic for Wukong. 

He doesn’t know too much of what exactly happened. He just knows that one minute he was the Great Strength Bodhisattva and the next, he was being carried off by two arhats to be reincarnated as an animal. 

It was only when Wujing, still the Gold-bodied Arhat, came to rescue him from the two arhats by pretending to be under order of Tathagata that he got the news. Their master, The Buddha of Sandalwood merit was dead.

And so, Sun Wukong was once again wreaking havoc across the heavens, except this time, he had come closer than ever to overthrowing the Jade Emperor and Tathagata*. Actually, scratch that, he had already ripped apart the Heavenly court as he had done last time and was steadily working his way through the Western Heavens. 

This time when Tathagata showed up, Wukong didn’t waste any time making bets or playing games. Armed to the teeth with Taoist magic and buddhahood, his strength was at its zenith and without another word he was barrelling into the Gautama Buddha with the fiery of the sun itself. 

From what Ao Lie heard later on, it was only at the sight of the embodiment of Xuanzang’s soul, a single golden cicada pinched between Tathagata’s thumb and index finger that Wukong ceased his rampage to negotiate. The dissolution of a soul is a fate only reserved for the most bitter, twisted and tormented souls where destruction would be a mercy. 

In short, there are no more chances once your soul is destroyed. 

Ao Lie shudders to think that someone so kind and soft was a thought away from such a fate. So after his father begged for banishment as replacement for his original punishment, after he was quietly taken in by the Water Virtue Star of Mercury* as a serving boy, he finally got wind of the punishments his elder brothers received. 

He could almost see himself standing there instead of Wukong, heaving and hissing in front of the shine and grandeur of Tathagata. He could just hear himself think how he was once again trapped in the palm of Tathagata. And as he let go of his golden staff, the cloud-parting thunk would ring in his ears for a long time even as he sunk to his knees and willingly accepted his punishment: A thousand years under the Five Phases Mountain with a mortal body. 

He knows that father blames Wukong for where he is now. As the third prince of the Western Sea, he wouldn’t have to kowtow to the Jade Emperor even in the old days as the dragons are recognized sovereigns of all the rivers and seas. But now, he is a lowly servant for a common bureaucrat of the Heavenly Court. But really, what’s his punishment compared to what his elder brothers have had to suffer through…? 

During this entire sequence of thought, his father had greeted Wukong, politely but also coldly (not that the monkey cared). They made some small talk and soon his father ordered rooms to be prepared for them. Before they left for their rooms though, Ao Lie asked for a meeting with the dragon king tonight, there were some things he wanted to talk through one on one with his father. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sassy twelve year old* - Refering to Nezha (or Prince Nata) here, I totally stole this from Overly Sarcastic Productions, please check out their summary of JTTW if you haven't already it's mind blowingly awesome!
> 
> Qing Hai lake* - the name means Azure Sea Lake and it is a salt-water lake (one of the largest I believe) in Western China. Ancient people couldn't geography as well so they were like, big water mass? check, salty? check, this is obviously a Sea, and it's the Western Sea where the Western Sea Dragon King resides. I've actually been there before and it's absolutely gorgeous but unfortunately not a Sea. 
> 
> Xi Hai* - Western Sea (written in Pinyin) 
> 
> It’s the people who’ve changed* - I made it here so that Ao Lie uses the Chinese saying "物是人非" which means the objects still remain but the people have changed/gone. Here, the character for "people" specifically refers to humans therefore prompting Wukong's quip
> 
> Water Virtue Star of Mercury*-水德星君, no exact translation but my translation is basically word for word. He is the embodiment of a "star" essentially and since mercury in Chinese is called "water star", I added that in. Loosely, he controls the rivers and lakes and holds half of the Changjiang (Yangtze river but I hate Gade-Wiles with a passion) in his bottle. 
> 
> Tathagata/Gautama Buddha* - Basically the head honcho of the Buddhas/bodhisattvas/arhats, if I remember correctly, he was the one who created buddhism.


	3. Prelude to a New Journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jiang Yi has a lovely day and Ao Lie chats with his father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Midterms are coming so I might not be able to update for a little bit. This chapter is longer so I hope that'll make up for the inconsistent posting! Thanks to everyone leaving comments/kudos, y'all are the best and what keeps me updating this fic. I've included two character sheets at the end as well for Wukong and Jiang Yi so I hope you guys enjoy the fic+art.

It was getting close to nightfall as the clouds started gathering. Soon, umbrellas were propped up as a small drizzle came down. The grey, earthy smell of the rain cut through the dense summer air as the temperature began to drop. 

Jiang Yi thought he could finally breathe a little as the oppressive summer haze lifted with the cooling evening rain. 

As the rain started to come down harder, he opened up his umbrella as well but winced a little as the movement strained his pulled shoulder. Propping the umbrella up on the ground, he curled up gingerly around his bag, he couldn’t afford for whatever was left of his paper charms and trinkets to get wet. 

He supposed that it wasn’t natural for a regular sixteen year old to fit under a propped up umbrella. But he’d always been small for his age and the lack of consistent meals probably didn’t help much with the situation either. 

Originally hunched over the curb of the sidewalk, he laid down as the street cleared, most people hurrying home for dinner and a roof. His robes were getting wet from the rain but he couldn’t find it in himself to care too much, after all, the coolness helped with the pain. 

Looking up at the vast, grey skies he imagined himself melting into a puddle and flowing away with the rain. Down the drain he’d go, into a lake and then into a sea, the point is that he wasn’t here anymore. He wasn’t the runt of Jin Shan street who “deserved” whatever mistreatment came his way (especially from Wang, that damned tramp used to beg at their temple for heaven’s sake).

Today was an especially awful day. He’d made a few more sales than he usually would, but before he could pack up and buy himself a proper meal, trouble came in the form of Wang and his pack of vagrants. 

Now usually Jiang Yi would just hand over the money and get it over with, Old Sha usually allowed him a free meal or two on account of him being a monk anyway. But he decided that he didn’t want to “get it over with” today, he had made just enough to pay back his debt to Old Sha and if there was one thing he couldn’t stand, it was not going through with his own plans. 

So he put up the best fight he could, getting a few kicks, scratches and bites in before being pinned on the ground by two of Wang’s underlings. He writhed and struggled against them as they unleashed all the pain and bitterness life brought them onto him. Soon, it was getting hard to tell whether the pain came from their beatings or from his own strugglings against them. 

It was after a few moments of this brutal beating when someone finally let out a strained scream. Then it was a flurry of people dialling 110* on their phones while others began searching for a patrolling officer. It wasn’t everyday that you see a monk getting beaten to a pulp in broad daylight. 

It was only at the faint sound of a shrill whistle when Wang and his group dispersed like rats at the sight of a cat. It seems that someone had dragged a traffic police here in the heat of the moment and Jiang Yi could only sit up in a daze as people gathered around him. 

Suddenly people were offering him tissues, asking if he was alright and offering a ride to the hospital. It was only when the poor traffic police yelled at everyone to “give the kid some space!” that Jiang Yi felt like the world wasn’t melting around him. 

But now he had even more trouble, the moment the traffic police drags him off to the station it’d be game over for him. He doesn’t like his life now, but he’ll hate it once he gets strongarmed into the system. So he puts up his softest smile and starts thinking of ways to get out of this mess. 

“Young master*, you’re a bit far away from your temple aren’t you?” The traffic police squats down beside him and hands him a handkerchief. 

Ah, right, the nearest, undemolished temple would be on the nearest mountain which is about ten kilometers from here. He’ll have to make some small talk and then think of something...hopefully.

“Amitabha, thank you for saving me, officer. I was so frightened! I don’t come into the city often and as a monk I don’t own any valuables. I have no idea why they would choose me as a target.” Jiang yi ended his rambling with a choked sob and a few wipes at his eyes. Depending on the officer’s response he’ll decide whether or not he’ll need to start weeping. 

The young officer seemed slightly flustered as he stammered out a weak, “It’s an honour to serve the people*” before promptly blushing the shade of a cooked lobster when Jiang Yi looked up with teary eyes.

“You see, I...I’m new to this post so this is the first time I’ve responded to something like this. I’m still unsure as to whether or not I should’ve gone after those guys. Gods above, such brutality towards a monk! People these days…” 

Jiang Yi laughed a little, “It’s quite alright officer, it’s all karma, I must’ve done something in my last lifetime to deserve this.” It seems that slipping out of this might be easier than it seems…

The police looked exasperatedly at Jiang Yi, “That’s what all of you monks say. I mean no offence, but if I believed in that I probably wouldn’t have become a police officer.” He looked like he wanted to say more but upon noticing Jiang Yi trying to get up quickly held on to his arms to help him stand. 

“And I’d say it’s this belief that keeps us in our monasteries. An end to karma means escape from the cycle of life and death.” Jiang Yi smiled gently before putting his hands together and bowing slightly, “My master and I were separated so I must go wait for him at the teashop down the street. Thank you for all your help, officer.” 

The traffic police looked a little skeptical but having already left his post for a good while he knew he needed to get back as soon as possible. “Are you sure, young master? We can go to the station and contact your master if you’d like.” 

Jiang Yi was tempted to run away now but that’d ruin everything, “What a generous offer, but I’m afraid my master doesn’t have a phone and would be worried sick if I wasn’t waiting for him at the teashop.” 

“But still…” 

“Officer, I’m sure you know that monks are forbidden from lying. Now, if there’s nothing else you need from me I’ll be on my way.”

The officer still seemed a little unsure but nodded and told him the address of the nearest police station before leaving to return to his post. Jiang Yi let out a sigh of relief before walking away with a slight limp. 

* * *

Ao Lie was quickly shown into Chenyang palace* after the guard reported his arrival to the Dragon King. 

“Ao Lie greets his highness.” Ao Lie bowed to his father as the elder dragon waved to a chair near his desk motioning for him to sit. 

“What did you need to see me for, child?” Ao Run asked as he rolled up the memorial to the throne* he had been reading. 

“Father, I know the Jade Emperor intended for me to read the edict out to the Great Sage.” he glanced up from his fidgeting fingers to gauge his father’s reaction before looking down again, “but I’d prefer it if you could read it to us.” 

The older dragon sighed and shook his head a little, “Ao Lie, it’s been a thousand years since that journey. He’s not the Great Sage Equal to Heaven anymore and you’re not the young dragon one command away from execution anymore either. You’re going to have to get used to seeing him kneel, even to you.” 

Ao Lie fell silent and clenched his fist. His father was telling the truth, if that wasn’t the case his father wouldn’t have dared to use that cool, snide tone while greeting Wukong. But not here, not while he was home, he won’t stand while his elder brother knelt*. 

“Please, father, you should know that I’ve never been one to demand things, but this means a lot to me.” Ao Lie finished before getting up and bowing slightly. 

Ao Run stared at his bowing son, it’s true, his youngest son has always been anything but demanding. He kept his head down and did his best to keep out of the worst parts of palace infighting. Even when his favourite toys were routinely divied up by his siblings, even when his siblings were scrabbling for their father’s attention, even when his mother was taken away by a visiting celestial. Not a word of dissent was ever heard from him. 

“Of course, Ao Lie, this your old father can still do for you.” The old dragon got up from his desk and led Ao Lie back to his chair before taking a seat beside him. 

“Ao Lie, my child, if I could, I would have you taken off the list for this “pilgrimage”.” Ao Run held his sons’ hands in his own and patted it. “These scrolls, no one even knows if Li Chun Feng and Yuan Tian Gang* finished them...Do you understand what I’m trying to say?” 

Ao Lie slipped his hands out of his father’s grasp and folded them on his lap. “I understood this the moment I was read the edict by the Water Virtue Star of Mercury. Father, you must understand that I’ve found a home and family* a thousand years ago, on that journey to the Western Havens.” 

Ao Lie looked up, determination shining in his pale eyes, “I would follow my master and brothers to the edge of this world, as a dragon or as a horse.” 

When Ao Run changed for bed that night, he looked to his pearl*, presented proudly on a stand by his desk. It seemed to lose a little of its shine, ah, he really is growing old, many things that he thought were clutched tightly in his claws are slipping out like a running stream. 

The mortals rarely held festivals and ceremonies under his name anymore. Droughts didn’t devastate villages like it used to and so this deity of the old had lost his place in their hearts. Well, at least he was doing a little better than his brother in the east, he hears that the mortals can make rain all by themselves now. Even the Great Sage’s one hundred and eight thousand li* in a somersault isn’t as impressive as it used to be. Those mortals were really something huh. 

Maybe Ao Lie was right, maybe a journey was what they needed right now. To travel and see the mortal world for itself and come back and get the old, rusting deities to catch up to the ones they ruled over. 

The next day, the Dragon King of the Western Sea reads the heavenly edict to Sun Wukong and Ao Lie who both kneeled before him. They were to retrieve the prophetic Buke Dao* scrolls from the mortal realm and bring incense and offerings* back to the deities. They will first meet up with the other pilgrims in the heavenly court before setting off on their new journey. 

* * *

Jiang Yi opened and closed his umbrella several times, gave it a good shake and limped into a shack of a dumpling shop. 

It was only when he dropped onto a plastic stool when he realized how thoroughly wet and miserable he was. He wanted to lean on the cool, tiled wall but one glance at the thin, sticky film of grease and time was enough to deter him from doing so. He wasn’t _that_ miserable. 

So he crossed his arms on the rickety wood table and rested his head on them. It would be a miracle if he didn’t get sick from this, but his forehead was already feeling a little warmer than usual. Great, one more thing to worry about. 

“What wind blew you here*, little master? It’s been a little while since you last came so I assumed you had finally decided to leave that abandoned temple.” 

Jiang Yi raised his head to see Old Sha coming out of the curtained entrance which separated the front of the restaurant from the kitchen. The front only had about five tables and the back could barely fit two people but as the saying goes, despite its size, a sparrow still possesses of all its necessary organs*. 

“Old Sha, you know that Xiao Jiang would suffice.” Jiang Yi smiled wryly, “I didn’t want to come before I had all the money I owed you in order. I did make enough money to pay you back today but Wang paid me a visit…” 

He reached into his bag and took out the battered wallet he had sewn together from scrap cloth that he collected over the years. Turning the little pouch inside out, about ten yuan fell out in spare change. 

“I can only pay for a bowl of wonton soup today, next time I’ll pay back the twenty eight yuan that I owe.” Jiang Yi slid the coins across the table towards Old Sha. “Just the usual fillings please.” 

The tall man took the money and nodded before going into the kitchen and returning with a cup of hot tea. With a muttered “on the house” he set the tea down and went back in. 

Jiang Yi huddled around the tea, but pressed himself more on the cool wooden table as he took sips periodically. He felt like he was burning up and freezing at the same time. Looking out the front entrance, he saw the rain making rhythmic patterns on the various puddles on the ground. For some strange reason this was all making him very tired and dizzy… 

The last thing he remembered seeing was Old Sha bringing down the roll-up door with a firm clang and the click of the large paddle lock. Those were his last coherent thoughts before everything went dark. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 110*- emergency number to call the police in China. 119 is for firefighters and 112 is for ambulance. 
> 
> Young master*- a direct translation of "小师父", without the first character which means young or little, the last two characters would just be a polite term for all monks. Here, since Jiang Yi is quite young, it'd be strange to just call him "master" without the "little" in front.
> 
> It’s an honour to serve the people* - Motto or slogan commonly said by civil servants across China. Many police stations will have this sentence (为人民服务) hung up somewhere in the police station (generally main lobby) 
> 
> Memorial to the throne*-so in Chinese flavoured bureacracy there are two main ways communication traveled form the sovereign to his subjects. One is edict/imperial order, issued by the sovereign and received by his subjects and the other would be a "memorial to the throne" (奏折) where the subjects could write concise and detailed essays essentially to appeal to the sovereign about any issue that needed his attention. 
> 
> He won’t stand while his elder brother knelt*- this might be a strange notion but I'll try to explain it as best as I can. So Asian traditions places heavy emphasis on age/generation and however polite your elders are, if you were younger you definitely have to "outdo" them in that regard according to traditions. Of course, if your elders suck you'd probabaly think these traditions are bs and fair enough, but here, since Ao Lie respects and loves (familial here) Wukong, he thinks of these traditions as ways to show his appreciation for his elder brother.
> 
> Chenyang palace*- I pulled this out of my ass since information is so limited on the Western Sea palace. Translated from 沉阳殿 which means "The Palace of the Sinking Sun", I chose this because, first, the sun sets to the west and this woud imply that the sun rests here and second, since it's the palace the King sleeps in, it would imply that the King is the sun or at least equivalent to the sun since he sleeps here. It shows the importance of the palace and the King himself. But yeah, my naming skills in Chinese is limited so this is the best I can do. 
> 
> Li Chun Feng (李淳风) and Yuan Tian Gang (袁天罡)* - Ok, so these were actual people from the Tang dynasty best known their prophetic book named "推背图" (Tui Bei Tu). There is currently six versions of that book floating around and since it projects 2000 years into the future, 2020/2021 is actually the 46th prediction out of the total of 50 predictions that make up the book. It's pretty cool but kinda vague so there are some people who totally believe in the book while others don't buy it.  
> I made it here so that after they died, they had to write another set of prophetic scrolls for the heavens but has hidden them away for reasons which I'll explain in the "Buke Dao" section. 
> 
> home and family*- could be denoted with a single character 家 in Chinese. Thought that was cool just wanted to make a note of that here.
> 
> pearl*- In artistic depicitions, dragons are often shown playing with or holding pearls. These pearls are refered to as "Dragon pearls" and basically holds all the energy/power/chi. Some people say it could also be their eggs but we're going with the former in this fic.
> 
> li* - "里" unit for distance used most commonly before the metric system was adopted
> 
> Buke Dao*-pinyin of 不可道, it means "unspeakable". I named the scrolls that because Chinese myth/culture's relationship with fate is that, everything is basically predestined (loosely, and this belief only comes in when it's convenient because continuity does not exist in Chinese mythological/belief system). But the catch is that if you had a peek into fate (which is already taboo, shame on you), you're not allowed to say anything to anyone about it because it's the "secrets of the heavens" (天机) and generally people who spill the beans get punished for it. So it's the unspeakable scrolls filled with juicy gossip from fate, which the two authors do not want anyone to see because they already broke taboo once by writing Tuibeitu as mentioned above. 
> 
> Incense and offerings*-basically Chinese deities gain prominence/power through incense and offerings which signifies the peoples' belief in them. So as a god, the more good things you do for people, the more offerings you get, the better off you are. 
> 
> What wind blew you here*-translation of "那阵风把您吹来了?" A semi-sarcastic remark to someone who haven't visited you or your establishment in a while. 
> 
> Despite its size, a sparrow still possesses of all its necessary organs*- translation of "麻雀虽小五脏俱全“, a common saying used to describe something small (place, thing, people sometimes) that has everything it needs in order.


	4. Long Awaited Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Heavenly Courts brief Wukong and Bailong on the situation, Jiang Yi reunites with people he's never met before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said that since midterms are coming that I probabaly wouldn't be able to update in a short while, but here I am back with another chapter (tbh I'm shocked myself, I have never written this fast in my life). This chapter just really got me writing for some reason but since I'll definitely be dead next week this time I'll definitely have to update at least a week later. Anyways, this is quite an angsty chapter so proceed with caution! And as always, I'm still looking for a beta-reader so please leave a comment if you're interested!

Wukong and Bailong arrived at the Heavenly Court* to see the Gold Star of Venus already waiting for them. 

“This old one greets the Great Sage and the Third Prince of the Western Sea.” The old celestial was as mellow and polite as ever as he bowed slightly towards them. 

The young prince bowed back hastily, unsure why such a high-ranking celestial would be so courteous with them when he’s experienced much worse from lower-ranking celestials. But Wukong was as aloof as ever as he nodded and muttered some greetings back. 

The Gold Star just chuckled slightly as he started to lead them up the stairs and into the palace. “I’m sure you both know why you’re here.” Despite looking like an old man, he had no trouble staying a few paces ahead of them. “We’ll be counting on you once again.” 

Soon, they were past the front gates and heading straight for the main palace. The Heavenly Court was expansive yet simple in organization in contrast to the labyrinth that is the Western Sea Palace. Despite its simple organization the intricate carvings and murals show the immaculate care and attention to detail the craftsmen exercised upon the architecture. But Wukong just can’t help but feel that everything was less vibrant than it was a thousand years ago, it was almost if someone had covered everything with a fine layer of dust. 

The Gold Star stopped them in front of the main palace as he went in to announce their arrival. Soon they were being stared down by the two rows of celestial mandarins who lined the sides of the Jade Emperor himself, sitting at his desk above everyone else. 

“Sun Wukong greets his highness.” “Ao Lie greets his highness.” They both kneeled before standing up at a wave of the Emperor’s hand. 

“It seems that we have three members missing.” The Jade Emperor remarked with a raised eyebrow. “Prime Minister, did something happen?” 

The Gold Star of Venus stepped into the center of the palace, “Your highness, this old one was sure to send messengers to all the pilgrims. But since the three who didn’t appear have been in the mortal world for the last thousand years, the messenger might have experienced some complications in tracking them down. After all, our records of the going-ons of Heaven and Earth are nothing but detailed and extensive.” 

The sovereign opened his mouth to reply but was cut-off by Wukong, “Hold on, the other three? Don’t tell me you guys are planning on dragging my master into this. And my brothers, why have they been in the mortal world?” He narrowed his eyes, “What happened to them?” 

“Hmph, don’t you know? They’ve all been punished accordingly for your rampage a thousand years ago.” The Jade Emperor drawled in a snide tone that drove Wukong up the walls. 

“Now you bastards listen here.” Wukong was now addressing everyone in the palace as Ao Lie tried to placate him, “You may have me under your thumb right now and think you can do whatever you want to us. But you’d better sleep with one eye open from now on, because I promise that I’ll kill every single one of you bastards standing here… 

He stopped because of the laughter. Everyone was laughing, some even crouching down, as if they’ve just heard the funniest joke. The utter humiliation set in as shouts of “Horse Groom” “Ape” and “Demon Monkey” filled the raucous palace. His head spun in shame and anger as Bailong tried to defend him against the onslaught of slander and insults encircling them.

It was only at the wave of the Jade Emperor’s hand when the celestials calmed down and shuffled back into their neat rows once again. Ao Lie thought he could taste bile at the realization of how planned all of this was. But this was the sort of power play that you’d expect from a place that reeked of corruption and stagnation, from what he’s heard, even some of the mortal governments have moved on from this level of petty infighting. 

“Now, now, we must show more courtesy to the Great Sage here, after all we are relying on you for a very important task.” The Jade Emperor continued in that faintly mocking tone of his, “You’ve heard most of your task in my edict, but I think I need to personally stress how important these scrolls are. This happened about a thousand and five hundred years ago when Li Chun Feng and Yuan Tian Gang first ascended as immortals. As they are unsurpassed in divination and the prophetic arts, we requested them to look into the future of the Heavenly court.” 

Wukong snickered at the emperor’s use of “request”, but he continued on after clearing his throat a few times, “They began their work soon after, and this time we made sure to separate them since as I’m sure you know that Li Chun Feng only stopped at his fiftieth prediction in Tui Bei Tu* because Yuan Tian Gang pushed him in the back, snapping him out of his trance. We thought we could unlock more potential by having them write their predictions separately.” 

Ao Lie resisted the urge to roll his eyes, he’s met the two immortals even back when they were officials in Tang court, they were practically inseparable and always worked together. This was simply a case of greed, the Heavenly Court wanted more predictions than what they should be allowed and so forced the two newly arrived immortals (who were basically barely deceased mortals at that point in time) into doing separate, involuntary work.

“One day a hundred years after they started on the Unspeakable scrolls, the messenger who periodically checked their progress on the scrolls reported that they had gone missing along with the scrolls. Of course, we sent out search parties but they all returned empty handed.” He motioned the Gold Star of Venus to come to his desk with a wave of the scroll he picked up from his desk. The celestial took it with a bow and approached Wukong before handing it to him. 

“I’m sure Ao Lie here has explained our dilemma here and we believe that the scrolls hold the answer to our conundrum. If we are allowed a look into the future through the scrolls, well, in the worst case scenario, at least we would know which actions not to take.” 

Wukong looked at the scroll which turned out to be a map with places where the prophecies were suspected to be. Then a thought came to him, “Who’s going to read the prophecies?” 

The Jade Emperor quickly glanced sideways before clearing his throat again, “Well, since the Golden Cicada proved to be most effective at transcribing and translating scrolls in his tenth reincarnation we thought it’d be natural for him to take on the task this time as well. I’m sure he will consider it an honour, it’s not everyday that a mortal is allowed a look at the fate of the universe.” 

Ao Lie could only stare in horror as Wukong crossed the distance between themselves and the Jade Emperor with one great leap. He landed on the sovereign’s desk as light as a feather before lifting him out of his throne by the collar. 

“You snide son of a bitch, if you want my master to take such a risk you’d have to do it over Old Sun’s cold dead body.” He threw the whimpering celestial back onto his throne, “I may be older, weaker and mortal but I can still take all of you down with me!” 

At that moment he froze where he knelt on the desk before an ear-piercing howl erupted from him. His arms, legs, neck and head felt like they were being constricted, ripped apart and set ablaze at the same time, it didn’t take much longer before he realized that the six rings put on him were the root of this explosion of pain. 

With an enraged scream he tried to stagger up before dropping backwards onto the floor. He was paralyzed on the ground for a second before he started to squirm, he had thought that the golden fillet on his head was bad, but this was at least six times worse. Out of his blurred vision he could see a horrified Bailong trying to approach him but not wanting to accidentally make it worse somehow. 

As abruptly as the pain began, it stopped, leaving Wukong a heaving, sweating mess on the floor as Bailong quickly ran to his side. From his peripheral vision, he could see Taishang Laojun* stroking his beard smugly beside the Gold Star of Venus. 

Just as he was recomposing himself to bash the living daylights out of that fucker, panicked shouts of “Your highness!” sounded from the palace entrance. Soon, a messenger was kneeling in the center of the palace. 

“Your highness! I come with grim news, the twentieth reincarnation of Golden Cicada, Jiang Yi has been kidnapped!” 

Wukong was already on his feet, “By whom?” 

“The former Juan Lian general and Gold-bodied Arhat, prisoner Sha Wujing.” 

* * *

It was almost like waking up to another morning, Jiang Yi thought after a few seconds of regaining consciousness. But if that was the case, he wouldn’t be tied up on his own bed. 

He was still weak with fever and he could feel his sweat drenched robes sticking onto him. Even though he only owned a few robes from what the monks had left behind, he still valued cleanliness. Right now, he wanted nothing more than a luke-warm shower. 

But he needed to focus on getting out of here, whoever had kidnapped him knew where he lived. He didn’t know why they would bring him back here, but it didn’t matter, the temple wasn’t safe anymore. 

He started to nudge towards the edge of the bed so that he could at least sit upright. His shaving knife would be on the dressing table by the window, and once he cuts himself loose he’ll run and start anew somewhere else. 

But he sat up only to see a looming figure passing through the hallway right outside the window of his room. His door was soon opened and the figure became a person, someone he’s quite familiar with in fact. 

“Old Sha…?” Jiang yi stood up before collapsing to the ground as he tried to take a step, forgetting that his feet were bound as well. 

Wujing crossed the distance between them, the butcher knife in his hand gleaming under the moonlight before kneeling down before a trembling Jiang Yi. 

“Master, forgive me, I was going to let you go, but you had to visit me today.” He took his tinted glasses to show his glowing, yellow eyes with heavy, dark circles under them. “You’d understand, right? You’re my master, my dear master who’d give his life to ease others suffering.” 

“I...I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Jiang Yi huffed out breathlessly as he tried to back away from the demon as much as possible. “You’re insane!” 

Wujing seemed like he wanted to laugh before covering his mouth and turning his head to the side. “Well, since you’re my master I’ll grant you the favour of knowing why I’m doing this.” 

When Wujing stabbed the knife into the concrete ground, Jiang Yi wanted to scream. But he was so paralyzed with fear that he just trembled some more as Old Sha started talking. “After Elder Brother’s rampage, we were all punished accordingly. I was banished to the mortal realm, still as an arhat. But the catch was, I had to eat a voluntarily given heart every ten years. Of course, I was horrified at this, not only would eating hearts again destroy my sarira*, I would be reverting to the demon I was before I had met you, master.” 

He then lifted up his tank top to reveal an oval-shaped scar with five deeper imprints in a conspicuously finger-like pattern. “I eventually had to take my sarira out since it was causing me so much pain as I started eating humans again. And now, my ten year term has come, and how fitting, I get to devour the root cause of all of this.” 

_ Shink  _

he took up the knife again and raised it above his head…

“Wait!” Jiang Yi shouted, heaving, “Y...you said voluntarily!” Wujing paused. Jiang Yi’s eyes lit up, “Yes, you said a voluntarily given heart, right? Well, how is any of what’s occurring voluntary? I’ll make it clear now, I do not want my heart taken from me and I certainly don’t want you to eat it! That’s sick!” 

Wujing jerked up before pacing around the tiny room frantically. He seemed like he was arguing with someone, waving his brown butcher knife in the air as he tried to explain himself to nothing at all. 

At the same time, Jiang Yi’s mind was racing with plans of how to get out of here. But instead of coming up with the usual coherent, detailed set of steps, it was racing with half-baked, impractical fantasies that ranged from making a run for it to wrangling the knife out of his kidnapper’s hands and forcing his way out of here. As his thoughts raced ahead he could almost feel himself struggling to breathe. 

Then, stillness descended without warning as the man stopped in his tracks to stare at Jiang Yi with those yellow, unblinking eyes. A strange feeling of familiarity crashed over him like a bout of powerful ocean waves. 

“Wujing, you still have a choice. If you eat me now, you’d be willingly eating someone unwilling. And you haven’t done that yet, have you?”

Wujing could sense that the little monk in front of him was almost as shocked as he was at the words that flowed out of his own lips. But shock was quickly overcome with crippling guilt and shame as the tearful smiles, trusting embraces and heartfelt words of everyone over the years forced its way into his mind again. He never wanted any of their hearts. 

They didn’t tell him the consequences of not goading a trusting human into giving him their heart when they abruptly threw him into the mortal world once again. He had expected something like being struck by lightning* if he violated the terms of his punishment and he tried to prepare himself for that. 

But really, what could have prepared him for being eaten alive everyday for an entire year?

Sometimes it was tigers and other times vultures did the job as well, but the worst days were definitely when different insects set their sights on him. He knew he couldn’t escape from it but he still stopped sleeping, thinking he could fight them back if he just stayed vigilant all the time. 

Of course, they always found him and they always started from his innards and then the next day he would always wake up with nary a scratch. This was surely hell. 

Looking back he was surprised that he was able to hold out for a hundred years. But it made sense, back then, his master’s teachings were still sacred and the axis of his newly constructed world-view. He wanted to believe so badly that he was redeemable and that if he just chose to be good, he could reach something approximating enlightenment for his dull self. 

He looked back to the shivering monk, “What does it matter? I deserve nothing less than the deepest layer in hell now anyways.” 

“I think you’ve already been forced there for a long time…” Jiang Yi doesn’t know what’s come over him but that jarring sense of familiarity and set of too tired eyes are prompting him to take a very gentle attitude for someone who’s going to get their heart ripped out soon. Still, he continued. 

“I don’t completely understand your situation but whatever you’re avoiding by eating hearts you won’t be able to escape this time. Life sucks but I struggle hard everyday just to get by, I will not hand it over willingly.” Jiang Yi looked to the demon who still loomed over him, “Please spare me, my life lies within your change of heart*.” 

And just like that the giant of a man collapsed to the ground, howling and sobbing as if mourning for his inescapable fate. He cut Jiang Yi loose with a wave of his knife before hurling it across the room. “You’re right, I’d rather be eaten alive then eat you, Jiang Yi, you must live on, find yourself a good trade and live out the life my master could never have. Now go! Go!” 

Jiang Yi didn’t need to be told twice as he scrambled up, grabbed his bag from the corner of the room and stumbled down the dilapidated hallway. He ran blindly, relying on pure muscle memory to lead him out of the temple. 

So he completely short-circuited when he was knocked to the ground by someone coming his way. He looked up to see a short man with wild hair and wilder eyes that seemed to smolder red, and he screamed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heavenly Court* (天庭)- So I'll be using this to refer generally to where the deities reside, think Mt. Olympis Chinese ver.
> 
> Tui Bei Tu* (推背图)- I've explained a little in my previous notes but it's really cool so I want to elaborate a little. The name literally translated would be "push back pictures" because as written in the fic, Li Chun Feng was only stopped from revealing more of the "secrets of the Heavens" when Yuan Tian Gang pushed him on the back and told him that if he didn't want to die a horrible death he'd better stop at 2000 years into the futrue. This book actually exists but has been obscured over the years because Chinese people genuinely believed that a too definitive and accurate version would invoke the wrath of the heavens. So there are six published versions that you can find of the book nowadays, I believe there is one version that everyone agrees as the most accurate one but I'm not sure which one. My parents actually told me to not read it because they didn't wanna risk it so I think that shows how these beliefs still affect people to this day. 
> 
> Taishang Laojun* - Lao zi (Lao-tzu in Gade-Wiles, but again, I hate their romnization of Chinese with a burning passion) but deified. The actual philospher is always refered to as "Laozi" but the god is always referred to as "Taishang Laojun". 
> 
> Sarira* - ok, this one's a little tougher to explain. I know about some general teachings and premises of Buddhism through sheer cultural osmosis (Buddhism is so influential on Chinese culture, like it has literally changed the language itself) but am definitely not a practicing buddhist. But I'll try my best, so a Sarira is basically a small bead or a bone that can be found in the burnt remains of highly spiritual and devout monks/priests. It's a symbol of enlightment and often refered to as a source of spiritual power/energy for monks in stories/narratives (but that's more cultural and less religiouly accurate).
> 
> struck by lightning* - a common punishment dealt out by celestial forces to punish beings who defy the rules. In Chinese language/culture, it's common to invoke lightning to strike you as punishment if you break your promise, or saying that someone deserves to be be struck by lightning if they've done something morally deplorable. 
> 
> my life lies within your change of heart* - I'm half refering to a common buddhist saying which basically says (roughly translated) "You are a thought from becoming a buddha or a demon". It's actually got some zen philosophy involved in it but what it essentially means that everything that you are and can be depends on yourself because to you, nothing else in the world actually matters or is necessarily real in a sense. It also emphasizes the transitional state of being and how a thought is all it takes to become something entirely different. But yeah, I'm not "enlightened" in any sense and so this is just my shallow reading into the phrase. It's actually a commonly used phrase and Wujing would immediately recognize Jiang Yi's reference to the phrase. It would first remind him of Sanzang who absolutely would have repeated this phrase over and over on the journey and second that he technically still had a choice, even if they both sucked.


	5. The Stories are True but Inaccurate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wukong is pissed off and Jiang Yi learns the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally done with my midterms, yay! This chapter was really hard for me to write for some reason but I managed to pound out a thousand words or so today for some reason, I guess I was in the zone. But yeah, still looking for a beta-reader to help me edit and brainstorm so please comment if anyone's interested! Without further ado, please enjoy.

Wukong could only stare at the young monk trembling on the ground as a quiet “master” slipped from his lips. He was sure the young monk in front of him was the twentieth reincarnation of Golden Cicada and his frightened look, it was so similar to Xuanzang.

Bailong caught up to him at this point, and stopped as well when he saw the monk. A tense silence permeated between the three of them before Jiang Yi calmed down enough to speak. 

“Who the hell are you people?” He tried getting up at this point but just couldn’t get his legs under him. He couldn’t even begin describing the people in front of him, one had white hair and horns for heaven’s sake! 

Wukong started scratching his head and hissing, this kid _isn’t_ Sanzang, he knows this! His master would bite his own tongue off before he allowed anything remotely vulgar pass through his lips. But still, that soft glow, the tiny cicada floating around the kid, everything his eyes were showing him resembled that of his late master... He was getting frustrated with this messy train of thought and so decided to cut through it all in the bluntest fashion. 

“I’m the Handsome Monkey King of Flower Fruit Mountain, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong. The dragon beside me is Ao Lie, third prince of the Western Sea, and we’re here to save you.” Wukong gave the introduction as he jabbed a thumb to himself and to Bailong respectively. 

Judging by how high those eyebrows went, the monk probably didn’t believe a single word he just heard. 

“Right, well I thank both of you for all your help, but I just saved myself a minute ago.” Jiang Yi helped himself up on unsteady feet as he finally remembered to put on a pleasing smile, “I do have somewhere else to be, so if you’ll excuse me…” 

He was about to make a mad dash to get away from these thugs but was caught by the collar by the self-proclaimed “Sun Wukong” character. 

“Hey kid, where’d you think you’re going? We’ve introduced ourselves, I think it’s your turn.” 

Jiang Yi thinks he’s had just about enough in one day, street-fight, kidnapping and now human traffickers*? If he was going to be trafficked at least they're getting a piece of his mind before he gets drugged and taken away. So he slaps the man’s hand on his collar away and faces them with a tight grip on his bag. 

“Hey, if you’re going to try and traffic me can you at least not use fictional characters to trick me? Even a six-year-old wouldn’t fall for the shit you’re trying to pull. And I’ll have both of you know that I’ve been trained by a Shaolin monk so if you really want to take me, I won’t go down without a fight!” At that, he tried to summon a far away memory of his life inside this monastery still bustling with monks. He really did have some training from a monk who came from the famed Shaolin temple, but he’s forgotten all of it long ago. So he opted for the most stereotypical kung fu pose from movies and TV shows, praying that this will be enough to ward the two traffickers away. 

Wukong just snickered and snorted at the kid who clearly didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing. With a few quick and light taps to his arms, waist and knees (god the kid’s stance was horrible) the young monk collapsed onto the ground once again. 

Wukong crouched this time to get closer, “If I had my as-you-would gold-banded staff, I’d show it to you. But I guess taking you to the heavenly court would prove my identity as well.” At that he made to grab the monk again but only caught air as Jiang Yi scooted away. 

“You’re going to kill me?” Jiang Yi didn’t know why he wouldn’t stop with the euphemisms even when they’ve already established their identity as child traffickers, but he didn’t care about that as much as he cared about getting out of here. 

Bailong who could only facepalm himself right now quickly went to whisper in Wukong’s ears, “Big brother, taking people to heaven is a way of saying you’ll kill them.” 

Wukong just growled in frustration before reaching over to properly grab the kid and dragging him up to his feet. “Well consider yourself lucky, you’re going to visit the Heavenly Court before your time’s up.” 

Jiang Yi wanted to struggle out of the man’s grip but found them as tight as iron this time. This was probably not a great idea but it was his last resort, “Old Sha! Old Sha help!! I’m getting mmfff--

Wukong clamped a hand over Jiang Yi’s mouth, “What the hell are you doing? Didn’t you just run away from him??” Jiang Yi just bit down as hard as he could on Wukong’s hand but to his dismay found that the man didn’t even wince. 

But then to Jiang Yi’s surprise, Old Sha’s looming figure stumbled out of his room, peered around before spotting the trio.

_Clink_

His knife dropped to the ground as he froze at the sight of Wukong and Ao Lie. All was still until Ao Lie marched out from behind Wukong with a finger pointed at Wujing. “Third Brother, how could you??” 

Soon, the prince was in front of the giant of a man with a finger pointed to his chest, “That’s our master, couldn’t you tell? I never thought that the day would come that you, of all people, would try and eat him!” 

“Bailong… I,” Wujing dug the heel of his palms into his sunken eyes, “I’m not your third brother anymore.” 

“Bullshit!” The prince screamed as he pulled Wujings hands down, “You’ll always be my third brother, our master’s third disciple, the most faithful of us all. Have you forgotten all the sutras master taught you?” 

Tears gathered at Wujing’s eyes, “I haven’t, I could never, and that’s why it hurts so bad. I know our master’s teachings yet I’ve still regressed to the demon I was before our journey.” 

Wukong cast a still charm on Jiang Yi before approaching the river demon, “Old Sha, your thousand years of punishment is my fault. But I think you remember the fate of all the demons who tried to eat master on our journey west.” 

Wujing dropped onto his knees with his head hung low as Bailong hurried to Wukong’s side, pleading for him to spare Wujing. 

“Eldest brother, please relieve me of this wretched existence. I’ve had enough.” 

Wukong shook Bailong off as he raised his right hand, the nails of which were extending and sharpening. 

“STOP!” 

Everyone stopped before turning to see Jiang Yi who had somehow broken out of his still charm and running towards them before stopping in between Wukong and Wujing. “Are you truly the Handsome Monkey King of Water-curtain cave on Flower Fruit mountain, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong*?” 

This stilled Wukong’s hand, “Yes? What’s it to you?” 

Jiang Yi was sure everyone here was insane but if he wanted to prevent homicide he’d have to roll along with it, “Well, in the stories you are a hero, not someone who’d kill their younger brother!” Bailong nodded vigorously, “See, our little master doesn’t approve either. Plus, we need to bring brother Sha to the heavenly court to report for duty as well.” 

“That won’t be necessary,” Everyone looked up at the voice which came from a bright orb of light which was descending into the dilapidated temple. “This old one will read the edict here for the Juan Lian General.” 

The Gold Star of Venus jumped down from his cloud and into the courtyard by the hallway with a tiny plop before approaching the group. “Sha Wujing, Juan Lian General, Jiang Yi, twentieth reincarnation of the Golden Cicada, listen to this Heavenly Edict.” The old celestial stopped in front of the already kneeling Wujing and a dumbfounded Jiang Yi as he rolled out a scroll, “You are charged to seek out the Buke Dao scrolls with the Monkey King, Sun Wukong and the Third Prince of the Qing Hai Lake, Ao Lie. Now bow and receive His Majesty’s grace.” 

When Wujing didn’t move a muscle to receive or reject the scroll, the Gold Star just placed it into Jiang Yi’s arms. “Now, Great Sage, do call your golden staff here, let’s see if we can solve your problem with the staff.” 

Wukong lifted an eyebrow in disbelief but whistled in a summoning manner with his two fingers. It wasn’t long before a bright, pole-like shape could be spotted flying towards the temple from the night sky. 

The staff landed with a dramatic crash in the middle of the courtyard, sticking up proudly towards the sky. It was a majestic weapon, carved with clouds, water and dragons which demonstrated its prominence as the stabilizer of the entire Eastern Sea. 

“Now, young master Jiang, I’m sure you have quite a few “seal” charms in your pack.” The Gold Star motions towards Jiang Yi who finally breaks out of his trance when the deity addresses him. He nodded quickly and pulls out a rectangular yellow paper painted with the character “封” in red. 

“Good, now go stick it on to the golden staff young monk, then the Great Sage will be able to wield it as before.” The old celestial smiled as Jiang Yi nodded before slowly approaching the shimmering staff in the middle of the courtyard. 

Jiang Yi didn’t know what was happening but he could feel an invisible pressure which only increased as he got closer to the powerful staff. Cold sweat beaded along his spine as he gulped, he didn’t know why an inanimate object was scaring him so much but he figured he should just stick the charm on it and get it over with. So with shaky hands, he brought the charm up and patted it firmly onto the gold gilded staff. Then, clapping his hands together he started reciting what little he remembered of the heart sutra, hoping that would help with whatever they were trying to accomplish. 

At first Jiang Yi didn’t notice anything different when he finished the chunk of heart sutra he remembered. But it was upon seeing everyone’s stunned faces that Jiang Yi realized that the oppressive atmosphere which emanated from the staff was gone. 

Wukong took a leap and was by his As-You-Would Golden staff in a second. He slowly reached out to the staff and grasped it gently before quickly tightening his grip and pulling it out of the concrete floor in one fluid pull. 

Holding it up and staring at it in disbelief for a few seconds, a triumphant laugh slipped out of the monkey before he started flipping and leaping about the courtyard. Jiang Yi looked to Bailongma and Old Sha, both of whom were looking at each other with faint smiles on their faces. He didn’t know what exactly was going on but after seeing what happened today, maybe the Gold Star of Venus has really come down to summon them for a holy cause. 

“Pilgrims, I have one more message to deliver before I take my leave.” The Gold Star announced as everyone quickly gathered around him. “As you may be aware, there is still one pilgrim missing. He will be freed from his punishment as well once he joins you on your quest. So go seek him out, and tell him of the good news.” 

“How will we find him?” Wujing piped up for the first time in a while. 

“I am the first star to rise and last star to fall*, follow me and you will find him.” The Gold Star of Venus answered in a stately manner as Wukong rolled his eyes with a mutter of “how grand”. “Oh yes, young monk, can we talk somewhere private? I’m sure you’re quite confused about everything.” Jiang Yi responded with a nod as he led the ancient deity into his room down the hall. 

The three original pilgrims were left standing in the empty hallway as unsaid words filled the spaces between them. There was so much to say but no one knew how to properly convey their own thoughts and feelings, the easy companionship built up between them was long gone. 

Bailong wanted to strike up conversation several times but stopped himself at the sombre looks on everyone’s faces. He didn’t think their reunion would go like this…

Jiang Yi finally came out of his room after an orb of light which hovered a few times around the courtyard before shooting off into the heavens. He came to the group slowly, uncertainty showing in every step.

“So you guys are really the group that went to Tianzhu* for the Sacred Scrolls huh? I thought you guys just lived on as enlightened saints ever afterwards.” Jiang yi fiddled a little with the button on his pack, “Oh right, I never introduced myself properly. My name is Jiang Yi, I am the last monk in Jin Shan temple. I wasn’t of age when everyone left so I’ve never been officially given a dharma name, just call me Xiao Jiang*.” 

“Well, Little master, you have no idea how glad we are to see you again. We all look forward to this journey with you.” Bailong smiled and responded in place of his elder brothers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> human traffickers* - So child trafficking was a pretty big problem when I was growing up in Shanghai. I think it's gotten better now but there were tons of stories about kids being kidnapped and either having their organs harvested, sold to rural families as brides (this pertained only to kidnapped girls) or handicapped to gain more sympathy while begging on the streets. It was really brutal and back then it was an absolute nono to leave your kids unattended in public for any amount of time for fear of child traffickers. So as someone not of age, it would be quite natural for Jiang Yi to assume that these two random were traffickers since they don't have any other reason to approach him (in his mind).
> 
> Handsome Monkey King of Water-curtain cave on Flower Fruit mountain, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong* - So this should be his full title translated to English. Jiang Yi uses this because in th novel Sun Wukong has been shown to really like hearing his full title. So Jiang Yi uses it to get Wukong to spare Wujing. 
> 
> the first star to rise and last star to fall* - The Gold Star of Venus is essentiall the deification of the planet venus. So in early evening if you look to the horizon, the brightest and earliest star to show up and the last star to dissapear in the morning will be Venus. 
> 
> Tianzhu*- pinyin of "天竺", the term used to refer to India in the Journey to the West and commonly used during Tang dynasty as well I think. Nowadays, India is just called "Yindu" (印度). 
> 
> Xiao Jiang* - literally means "little Jiang", in China people will call you little "last name" instead of your name if you're younger in a group setting. I think this aversion to using actual names in Chinese culture originates with the long standing tradition of using people's titles instead of their given name at birth. Using the latter is disrespectful and unless you mean to demean them or are in a super official setting, people don't usually do that.


	6. A New Story Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wukong notices a few things about Jiang Yi and the gang gets ready to set out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came out a little slow as well because I'm trying to plan out the story more extensively as the main plot starts getting on. I'm also working on finalizing the characterization for everyone so the next chapter might come out even later. This is what I get for writing on the fly lol. But yes, starting from this chapter on, the journey is underway! I'm really excited to start writing some arcs with (hopefully) some social commentary!

“The temple’s deserted so pick any room you’d like, just not the large one at the end of the hall, I keep my master’s remains there.” 

After they saw Wujing off, Jiang Yi announced the above to the other two pilgrims. Dizzy and weak from his mild fever and all the excitement of today, he decided he needed to collapse onto his bed with the room preferably all to himself. 

He would’ve succeeded in passing them and making a beeline for his room if the monkey didn’t grab him by the collar once again. He has a bad feeling that this is becoming a pattern. 

“Unclean things* are gathering, we’d better all sleep in your room.” Wukong sniffed the air a few times before shutting the front gates of the temple with a loud clang. 

“What do you mean “unclean things”? Like evil spirits and ghosts?” Jiang Yi quickly glanced around the temple grounds but not seeing anything out of the ordinary. “I don’t see anything.” 

“You’re a mortal, little monk, of course you won’t see anything. The temple is holy ground so they’re keeping their distance for now, but I’m not sure if that’ll be enough to ward them off come midnight.” Wukong said as he started walking past the front courtyard and into the main room where the last remaining statue of buddha resides. 

Following the larger-than-life character he thought only existed in stories, Jiang Yi walked through the small side door and into the back of the temple where everyone used to live. He wondered why they couldn’t just stay in neighbouring rooms, but he was too tired and done with the day to argue, it wasn’t like they couldn’t fit in his room. 

Deciding that the dragon looked more open to conversation, Jiang Yi turned to Ao Lie who was walking beside him, “Third prince, I’ve never had any trouble with spirits and whatnot, I mean I didn’t even believe in all this until tonight. Do we really need to be this careful?” 

“Please just call me Bailong or Yulong, I promise you I don’t miss palace life.” The pale dragon chuckled a little as they walked through the hallways once again, “As you know, it’s faith and belief that keeps us strong and the moment you start believing in our existence both the good and bad deities hold certain power over you. This added on to your newfound realization that you are the twentieth reincarnation of the Golden Cicada makes you, in essence, a demon magnet.”

“Don’t sweat it too much kid, Old Sun is here. I’ve torn my way through heaven before, these petty demons are nothing.” Wukong sneered as they went into Jiang Yi’s room. 

Jiang Yi went to the gas lamp that was left behind and lit it with a match. “I don’t have extra bedding so we’ll have to make do on my bed.” 

At the sound of a light thump from above him, Jiang Yi raised the lamp to see Wukong perching on the central beam of his room. Behind him, a few clops sounded as well and he turned to see a white horse with horns and a dragon tail. 

“We’re used to not sleeping in beds, you rest up so we can go get that pig tomorrow.” Wukong now lay across the beam as if that was the most comfortable place to be. Speaking from experience, Jiang Yi can’t even imagine going up the beams without his leg turning to wet noodles under him. He’s had several unfortunate experiences with having to patch up the roof by himself on that beam. 

Jiang yi just nodded before going to his closet to gather a new set of robes to change into after a lukewarm shower. After telling the others where he was going, Jiang Yi left the room with the gas lamp. 

“Big Brother, we’ve finally reunited after a thousand years! Our master is truly devout, I think this is his twentieth life as a buddhist monk.” Bailong ma snorted out a little puff of fire as if to demonstrate his excitement. 

“Does this temple feel like holy ground to you?” 

Bailong couldn’t read Wukong’s expression in the dark but he was sure that one of his own eyebrows was raised. “What do you mean?” 

The monkey paused before responding, “The ward’s weakness isn’t just caused by a lack of monks. There is a lack of devotion in whatever worship is left.” 

They fell silent as the both of them contemplated what Wukong had just suggested. Eventually Bailong lay down beside the bed, “I thought you’d bring this up with the little master, not me.” 

It wasn’t too long before Jiang Yi returned in a new set of robes. After setting the gas lamp down on the table and turning it off, he hurried to bed quickly. Bailong was sure that he was seeing things but he couldn’t help but think that the little monk’s movements were more curt than before he left to shower.

Light, rhythmic breathing sounded from below the beam where Wukong stood guard. He lept down lightly and made his way to where the small monk was laying. Taking a seat on the bed, he looked long and hard at Jiang Yi with his fiery eyes. 

This wasn’t how someone who has supposedly cultivated since birth should look like. 

His flesh and bone were dense and heavy and his spirit weary, but what made Wukong doubt his own eyes was the monk’s heart. It was leaden, filled with worldly desires and attachments, nothing like the hollow, clear heart of his master. Yet the tiny cicada still buzzed around the kid’s head, seemingly unbothered by how painfully normal and unholy the small monk was. 

“...Please, here’s all I’ve earned today… stop hurting her, I beg you…” 

Wukong leapt swiftly up the beam at the murmur, thinking that Jiang Yi was waking up. But looking down again, the monk just turned a few times before settling down. He settled down on the beam himself and closed his eyes, thoughts of Jiang Yi and Xuanzang swirling in his mind. 

* * *

“Master!” Wukong found himself sag in relief at the muffled sounds of Xuanzang’s quiet sobbing from the cabinet. 

The demons had tricked him into believing that they had eaten his master alive in the hopes that he’d be so distraught that he would give up and leave for good. They would have succeeded if Tathagata didn’t offer advice and help at the last moment. 

Wukong dashed to the cabinet and flung it open. But what greeted him were the woeful, teary eyes of Jiang Yi, tied up and helpless. 

“Eldest brother!” 

Wukong jolted awake on the beam before turning his head about to try and see the person calling for him. It was only a second later when his sleep-addled brain recognized Wujing’s voice and reminded him to look down from the beam where everyone else was. 

Jiang Yi was making his bed as Bailong stretched and yawned, it seems that they were all woken up by Wujing. Wukong dropped down with a light plop before noticing the pot of whatever that he was setting down on the table. 

“Is that congee?” Wukong asked as he moved to check on the contents himself. He knew that Wujing always made this for breakfast since it was simple and comforting. But of course, he would always prefer peaches over whatever slop Wujing cooked up. 

“Yeah, and I’m not trying to eat the little master’s heart again so it’s not poisoned or anything.” Wujing said as he swiped the pot lid from Wukong’s paws and plopping it back on to keep the congee warm. “Here, I brought some fresh fruits for you.” 

Wukong accepted the bag of fruits with a quick grin, “I don’t remember you being this direct.” 

“Well, people change.” 

At this point Jiang Yi had finished making his bed and headed out with his little tub of toiletries to finish getting ready for the morning. Bailong was almost drooling over the pot of congee, with only hammered in etiquette keeping him from eating the porridge straight from the pot. 

Wujing smiled slightly at Bailong before fishing out three sets of bowls and spoons from his pack. Bailong quickly took the bowls from Wujing and started ladling the glistening congee into them. 

“Third brother, is this Babao zhou*?” Bailong lit up as the sweet smell reached his nose, “I can’t believe you still remember my favourite type of congee!” 

Wujing patted him a few times on the shoulder, “I was in charge of your diet for about a decade or so after all. I’m sure this isn’t much compared to what they serve at the Western Sea Palace.” 

Bailong shook his head, “Don’t say that, I’ve always preferred your cooking. Look at the peeled peanuts, and the lack of long yan*, you actually tailor your cooking to our preferences. Really, how long did it take you to peel all the peanuts?” 

Wujing was about to answer before Jiang Yi came back into the room. That stopped the conversation as the young monk moved to set the tub down in the corner of his room. Wujing promptly tied up the topic with a mumbled “not very long” as he handed a bowl of congee to Jiang Yi. 

After finishing breakfast in silence, Jiang Yi packed what little that belonged to him and they were ready to set off. No one could drive so they decided that public transport was how they would travel through the city before going on foot in the rural areas. 

As they stepped out of the temple, Jiang Yi looked back on his sanctuary. This might be the last time he’ll ever see this place that was so dilapidated in such a familiar way. He felt that it should be raining or at least dreary, but the skies were as bright and clear as any other summer day in Xi An*. So he bowed one last time to the crumbling buddha inside and prayed that the clear day was a good omen for their journey ahead. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unclean things* - A direct translation of "脏东西", it's a ehphemism for malicious ghosts/spirits/demons that's used a lot by exorcists (Taoist priests) from what I remember of books/shows. I used it here because Wukong is acts like the exorcist/protector of this group and this emphasizes that. 
> 
> Babao zhou* (八宝粥) - literally meaning "eight treasure congee", it's a sweet rice porridge which has "eight treasures" in it including peanuts, red beans, long yan etc. you can get canned ones from Asian supermarkets and it's just so good I'm drooling as I'm writing this lol. 
> 
> Long yan* (龙眼) - longan fruit, or "dragon eye" if translated directly is a lychee-like fruit that's smaller, rounder and less aromatic. But in the north the fruit is generally refered to as "gui yuan" instead of "long yan". I headcannon that Ao Lie's siblings pranked him by making him eat one and telling him afterwards that it was actually a dragon's eye which scared the sht out of him, so to this day he refuses to eat it. 
> 
> Xi An* (西安) - Modern day name for Chang An which was the capital of China during the Tang Dynasty.


End file.
